The Way Things Are
by The Penn
Summary: Marissa's death leaves a massive void in Newport, with those she left behind struggling to cope with her death.
1. The State of Things

_**A/N:** This is my first ever fan-fiction, so please bear with me on structure and grammar deficiencies. _

_I am writing this fanfiction because we all know that Season 4 of The O.C was a bit rushed, and the storyline was probably not up to the standard of the previous seasons. This fanfiction is the way I pictured Season 4, and I am going to share it with you._

_Marissa is still dead in this fanfiction, as I am starting this fanfiction straight after Season 3. There will be some similarities to the real Season 4, but also some big changes. Stay tuned for these, and the return of a few characters who got phased out of the series._

_So I hope you enjoy, and I look forward to reading your reviews and criticism. Also note that the plot of this fanfiction will at times seem slow, so bear with me. _

_I DON"T OWN THE RIGHTS TO THE CHARACTERS OR ANYTHING. THE BASIS OF THE PLOT BELONGS TO THE CREATORS OF THE O.C, I am simply expanding and giving my own version of events._

* * *

Ryan could smell the aroma of petrol stemming from the car, and he knew there wasn't long before the occupants of the car would perish. He quickly unbuckled him seatbelt, and leant over to the passenger's side, to see if his friend was still conscious. Honestly, they were never really friends, Ryan thought to himself.

"Marissa. Marissa, can you move at all?" Ryan asked the passenger. Marissa Cooper lay motionless as the car continued to spew out oil. Ryan knew that is was only a matter of time now. They needed to get as far away from the vehicle as they could, as it was only a matter of minutes until the jeep would be engulfed by flames.

"Damn, she's unconscious", Ryan muttered to himself. He knew that once again he would have to save Marissa. After all, he was her shining knight.

Ryan unbuckled her seatbelt, and tried to move her from the seat. "Damn, I can't move her from this side." He wriggled out of the now mangled driver's side door, and staggered to the passenger's side. "C'mon Marissa", he muttered. Still no response.

He felt for her waist, and he felt a chill as his hand touched her body. It had just occurred to him that this was the first time he had held her since they had broken up. He began to pull her body out of the damaged jeep, which was a harder task than he first thought.

Eventually, he got her body out of the car, trying to keep her as still as possible during this process. He knew that she was badly hurt, and tried to limit any further injury that may occur.

As he carried her body down the road, he could hear the dripping off the petrol starting to cease. He started to increase the tempo of his walking; knowing that any second now the car would explode.

Feeling as though, they were a safe distance away from the car, Ryan lay Marissa's body on the road, hoping that she would regain consciousness some time soon.

As he laid her down, a loud bang came from the vicinity of the jeep. The once nice looking vehicle was now a large ball of flame. Ryan knew that he had just cheated death.

"Ryan. Ryan is that you." Ryan's heart leapt as Marissa started to regain some from of consciousness.

"Yeah, Marissa it's me. We had a pretty nasty crash, but everything looks to be ok. Well, the car is in pretty bad shape, but as long as you are ok then everything is fine."

"Ryan", Marissa whispered. "I'm really sorry for everything. Luke, Oliver, Trey, Johnny. And now Volchok. Whatever I do, I also seem to drag you into my messed up life."

"I wouldn't have it any other way", Ryan responded. It was true, despite how crazy the past 3 years had been, he wouldn't change it for the world. No matter what had happened, he still loved her.

"Ryan."

"Save your breath Marissa."

"I'm sorry."

"You already apologised."

"No. I'm sorry, that it has to end like this."

"Don't say stupid things like that Marissa. I told you, everything is going to be alright."

Ryan paused, waiting for Marissa to respond with "you're right" or "yeah it will". But after a few seconds it dawned on him; she hadn't responded at all.

All he could hear was the roaring of the fire from the jeep behind them, unable to distinguish any signs of her talking.

"Marissa, can you hear me? Marissa?" He moved his head towards hers, hoping to hear at least a cough or a whimper. Nothing, no whimpering, no coughing and even worse, he couldn't hear her breath.

He grabbed her hand in the hope of finding a pulse. Her hand was a lot colder that he remembered which Ryan knew was a very bad sign.

"MARISSA", Ryan yelled, hoping that this would make her wake up. Ryan could feel the tears started to well up in his eyes. 'This couldn't be happening', he thought. 'This wasn't the way things were meant to play out. He would go to uni, get his degree, while she worked for her father on a ship, figuring out what she wanted in life.

Then five years later, fate would bring them back together, and they would get married, have children, and spend the rest of their lives together.

"MARISSA. MARISSA SPEAK TO ME. No, no, no, no, no. MARISSA."

Ryan felt someone touch his arm. Whoever it was, it wasn't Marissa. This person had a much stronger grip. He felt the hand latch onto his arm, and pull him away from the girl he loved. He let out one last scream, as he felt himself drift away…..

* * *

"Marissa?"

"No son, I'm not your girlfriend" Ryan woke to see a man leaning over him, his hand on Ryan's arm as if to check if he still had a pulse.

Ryan looked up to see a police officer towering over him, one hand on Ryan, the other holding a pair of handcuffs.

"Are you alright son? You've been yelling for about ten minutes now"

"Yeah, everything is fine officer. Bad dream. Really, really bad dream." Ryan still couldn't get the events of that night out of his head. It had been 3 months, or at least that's what Ryan guessed, since the night of Marissa Cooper's death.

"I see you have been drinking quite heavily", said the officer, gesturing towards a collection of empty beer bottles.

"What it is to you?" Ryan responded angrily. If only he knew what Ryan had been through? If only he knew what it felt like to see the girl you love die right before your eyes.

"What's it to me, you ask? Well in case you didn't know, public drinking is illegal in this state."

"Yeah? And what state am I in?"

"Look kid, don't play silly buggers with me. This is the last thing I want to deal with"

"What state am I in?"

"Look kid, if you are trying to prove to me that you aren't drunk, then you are doing a terrible job….."

"I'm going to ask one more time, what state am I in?"

"What's your name kid?"

Ryan hesitates at this question. He didn't want to give out his real name in case things got a bit sticky, but he also didn't want to seem as though he was making up his name.

"Err....... Neal Schon." 'Crap', Ryan thought to himself. In his quest to find a non suspicious name, he comes up with the lead guitarist of one of America's most recognised bands. Perhaps the officer hasn't listened to Journey before…..

"Wow, kid really? And you don't suppose I've heard of Journey before? You don't think other people haven't tried that on me before? Now get out of here before I get really pissed off."

Ryan, now realising that he was in trouble, resorted to what he knew best of late. Anger.

"And what if I don't?" responded Ryan, full with a deadly mix of beer and months of unreleased frustration.

"If you don't do what I say, me and you can take a nice trip down to the police station, where you can have a nice chat with a few of my buddies."

Although the officer was unaware of Ryan's previous police record, Ryan knew that it wouldn't go down well at the station. The last thing Ryan needed was the hassle of explaining his past to a few dim-witted cops, so he decided to do the right thing.

"Fine, I'll leave. I'm out of beer anyway", spluttered Ryan.

"Good option, kid. Stay out of trouble."

Walking off, Ryan was suddenly reminded of the Cohen's, in particular Sandy. The officer had sounded just like Sandy when Ryan first moved in with the Cohen's. He remembered that night very clearly; getting beaten up by Luke, getting kicked out by Kirsten…..meeting Mari…….. Ryan had to stop himself.

It was too painful.


	2. The Distraction

**A/N:** _Thanks to everyone who reads this, don't forget to submit your reviews of this fan fiction, as it'll improve not only your reading experiencing, but will help with future chapters. _

_I've received a question regarding whether or not Taylor will be part of this fan fiction, and the answer is that at this stage Taylor will be part of this story, just at a later date. She's too important of a character to just omit completely, so yes Taylor will feature. _

_Anyway I hope you enjoy, and hopefully the next chapter will be up in a few days!_

* * *

Seth sat at the kitchen table, mulling over whether to eat Corn Flakes or Count Chocula for breakfast, while waiting for the kettle to boil. As mundane as that sounds, it had become Seth's ritual over the past few months. Mind you it was almost 10am, as his parents continually pointed out, but Seth didn't care. He was hungry, thirsty, and that meant it was breakfast.

"Ooo, kettles boiled", exclaimed Seth, as the kettle let out a high pitch screech. He got up, walked over to the window, poured his coffee and sat back down again. This wasn't what Seth had in mind after graduating from high school. In need of some stimulation, Seth reached over for the newspaper and flicked it open; to the leisure section of course.

"There's an Imax movie on the Arctic seal colony starting at 3", notioned Seth.

"What, do I look 6 years old to you?"

Kaitlin Cooper slammed down the playstation controller on the lounge table as she made her way over to where Seth was seated, who now had a look of shock on his face.

"Look Mini Cooper, I'm the babysitter which means that I get to choose today's activities, so I hope you like aquatic mammals."

"You are not babysitting me"

"Well let's look at the facts here, shall we Cooper? Your mum has gone out, left you under the watchful eye of myself, and has left us twenty dollars for pizza. According to movies that I have seen, that makes me your babysitter"

"Oh really? And would a baby do this?"

Kaitlin reached for her jacket and pulled out a small tin container, which Seth had instantly recognised, and he had seen a lot of Kaitlin recently. Kaitlin pulled out a small bag containing a green substance that Seth was all too familiar with.

"Wow, grass, classy Cooper. I suppose that gives you street cred amongst your high school friends."

"Why, you want some?"

"No thanks, last time I used marijuana, it didn't end so well."

"Oh yeah that's right, you burned down your fathers office. Great move there moron."

"Well what can I say? Arson runs in the family"

"So does beating up water polo players, impregnating ex girlfriends and looking good in wifebeaters. Clearly you missed the boat on that one Cohen."

"Oh, I can't wait til your mother takes you off my hands."

"Finally, something we both agree on."

* * *

"So we have the table settings sorted out for the Casino Royale night, now to get some volunteers to work as the croupiers. Any suggestions people?"

Julie Cooper looked around the table at the other members of the charity committee, those of who included Kirsten Cohen, Sandy Cohen and Neil Roberts.

"Julie, may I ask why myself and Sandy need to be at this committee meeting. We really should be working at our respective jobs, instead of talking about video poker machines", asked Neil, who was now clearly tired of the meeting.

"Well Neil, this Casino Royal event is going to need funding to get itself up and running…"

"But why can't you just pay that off with the money you make on the night Julie?" Sandy piped up, now aware that he was becoming Julie Cooper's personal piggy bank.

"Because Sandy, that money is going to the local drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre. Can you imagine how the guests would react if they found out the all the money was going to cover the costs? And with the Belle and Beau's event coming up in a fortnight's time?"

Sandy Cohen shot a look towards his wife. Kirsten shrugged her shoulders back at him; there was nothing she could do about it.

Sandy, although annoyed at the fact that he was now financing the Casino Royale event for the newpsies, knew that it wouldn't be right to decline. After all, everyone knew why Julie was hosting all these charity functions, although no-one was brave enough to voice their opinions. The death of Marissa Cooper had been hard on everyone, and everyone was coping with the loss in different ways. Julie, in too much pain over her daughter's death, had sought the option of spending as least time possible dwelling upon and dove head first into the charity work. The more time occupied with charity functions, the less time she spent thinking about Marissa.

Although Sandy knew that this wasn't the best way to cope with the grief, who was Sandy to tell her otherwise?

"Right, now who will volunteer as croupiers for the event?" proclaimed Julie, clearly oblivious to the fact that Sandy was reluctant to help.

"Martha Jennings has already offered the services of her son Rick for the evening, so how about Seth, Kiki?"

"If sure Seth will make up some reason to get out of it, but I'll make sure he comes and helps out with something."

"Great, thanks Kiki. How about Ryan?"

Kirsten paused. Ryan was still a touchy subject within her family, after he walked out on them some three months ago.

"We haven't been in contact with Ryan for some time now Julie, you know that", chimed in Sandy, now aware of the look of his wife's face.

"I just thought that maybe Ryan had contacted you recently…."

The expression of Julie's face had now changed to that of hope. This however was noticed by both Neil and Sandy, who were now themselves sporting looks of suspicion.

"Moving on, Julie continued, let's discuss the catering situation. It's ok Neil, yourself and Sandy can return to work now, us ladies will work out the remaining arrangements"

"Thank god", muttered Neil under his breath.

"What was that, honey?"

"Nothing Julie, I'll see you at home later."

Neil and Sandy, both looking relieved, took their leave from the restaurant and made their way to the carpark.

"Anyway Sandy, I guess I'll be seeing you on Saturday at the Casino Royale night", Neil said as he unlocked the passenger door to his new Volkswagen.

"Actually Neil, I was hoping we could meet up for a drink some time before then; there's something I need to discuss with you."

"If it's to do with the financial input, we'll sort something out on the night."

"It's not that Neil, I wanted to talk about Julie"

Neil paused for a bit, then turned to Sandy with a serious look on his face.

"I thought as much Sandy."


	3. The Escape Act

**A/N** – _The story is really starting to take shape now, as I start to lay the foundations of the story down. Hopefully from now on I'll release a new chapter every 2-3 days, as I'm really starting to get into this story. _

_So stay tuned, and please don't hesitate to review this story. I'd appreciate it a lot. _

_Thanks, and enjoy!_

_

* * *

  
_

Ryan, now involuntarily recollecting events of the night when Marissa died, knew that he needed to take his mind off things. Normally, he would drink as it was his habit of late, but he had now run out of beer. And it wasn't as if he could purchase anymore as he didn't have the faintest clue where he was. Well he knew where he wasn't; this wasn't Newport as he vowed never to return some months ago. And it certainly wasn't Chino, as where he was was too 'beautiful' to be Chino.

Seeing as though the police officer was of no help to Ryan, he decided that trying to figure out where on earth he was would keep his mind occupied for a while, even thirty minutes would suffice.

From where Ryan was standing, he could see the features that would be typical to any Californian state; a beautiful beach packed with women in bikinis and surfers lining the water, a jetty spanning along the shore as far as the eye could see and the sun. It was exactly as Ryan remembered Newport to be; but he was certain he hadn't returned as the Cohen's, especially Seth, would have found him by now.

He hadn't left the Cohen's on the best of terms; in fact he left the Cohen's without giving them any notice whatsoever. He was sure they were worrying about his whereabouts, but he wasn't too keen to contact them at this point in time.

It was the morning of Marissa's funeral, which was three weeks after the car accident which took Marissa's life. Summer had promptly left Orange County, enrolling in an introductory course at Brown, no doubt to escape much like Ryan was planning on doing.

No-one had really sat down and talked about the accident, although Sandy did try several times to hold family 'meetings'. It had seemed as though Marissa had taken a part of everyone when she had died, Ryan had become withdrawn, Kirsten spent a lot of time out of the house working with Julie Cooper, and Seth had lost some of his usual sarcasm. So it was no surprise that no-one was looking forward to the funeral. As far as Ryan was concerned, he wasn't ready to say goodbye.

It was early in the morning, and before any of the Cohen's had woken up, Ryan decided to start packing his bags. Ryan had never planned to stick around for Marissa's funeral; in fact he was surprised he had stayed in Newport for as long as he had. Once he had packed up all his possessions, deliberately excluding any photos of Marissa he had in the pool house, he slowly made his way into the house, desperately trying to avoid being seen. This however was unsuccessful, as Seth was sitting at the kitchen table, seemingly waiting for Ryan to enter the house.

"Going somewhere are we Ryan?" said Seth sarcastically, which was rare for Seth of late.

"Just thought I'd go for a run, clear my head"

"And you plan on going for a long run, so you have taken supplies?", said Seth as he notioned towards the duffle bag Ryan was now holding.

"Seth"

"Ryan, on this run of yours, you weren't planning on running, say, away from Newport?"

"Don't give me a lecture Seth, you don't understand"

"What don't I understand Ryan? That one of my friends died in a car accident? That my parents are rarely home? That my best friend rarely talks to me anymore? I'm pretty sure I get it."

Seth's voice had now risen, and Ryan now aware of the fact that he could wake up Kirsten, or worse Sandy, tried to reason with Seth.

"Seth, I can't be here anymore. Every time I step foot in this house, I am reminded of Thanksgiving with Marissa. Every time I step foot in the pool house, Marissa again. Every single part of Newport reminds me of Marissa. I just can't be here any longer."

"What, so you're just going to run away, and on the day of her funeral….?"

"Even more reason to leave. I'm not ready."

"No-one is ready Ryan. But we have no choice; we have to move on sometime." Seth had a tone of desperation in voice, it was clear he didn't want Ryan to leave at a time like this.

"Well, the time isn't right for me." And with that, Ryan reached to the kitchen counter, grabbed the keys to his jeep, and made his way the front door. He had to leave now, before anyone else woke up.

Seth however was not giving up, and with a rather stealth like move, managed to snatch the keys to the Jeep right out of Ryan's hand.

"Seth, give me the keys."

"I'm not going to let you leave, Ryan. You are family now."

"Give me the keys Seth"

"No."

"I'm going to ask one last time. Give. Me. The Keys. "

"And I'm going to say this one last time. No."

"Fine then. I'll find some over mode on transport."

And with that, Ryan opened the front door of the Cohen house, and made his way out to the carport. He knew however, that Seth wasn't given to just let him go. And sure enough, Seth was now following him down the driveway.

"So what are you going to do? Take a greyhound. Because trust me Ryan, I've taken one before and they aren't pleasant."

"I'll hitch-hike then. Done that plenty of times."

"What? With strangers?"

"Yes Seth, with strangers."

"Come on man. Stay. We can work this thing out. We've worked plenty of problems out in the past."

"Well those problems didn't involve Marissa dying, did they Seth?"

Ryan, now desperate to avoid the topic of Marissa, had found himself in the process of running. Seth, not as athletic as Ryan, knew that he was never going to catch him, so his best bet was to yell as loud as he could. Ryan was now slowly moving out of Seth's sight, and eventually Seth couldn't see him anymore.

That was the last Ryan had seen of Seth since leaving the Cohen's, and he didn't have any intention on going back for some time.

At least while Volchok was still at large.

* * *

"Thanks for taking the time to see me Neil, I realise that you have been really busy lately."

Sandy was now sitting in Neil Robert's office at the new Newport Hospital, Newport Groups final contribution to the community before going down the tube. The office was exactly how we had pictured it to be; there were model humans scattered around the room, papers all over Neil's desk, and over the top bright white lights.

"Yeah sorry I haven't got in touch sooner Sandy, it's been a nightmare around here lately. Seems as though Newport is becoming more self-conscious by the day. Anyway, should we get straight to the point?"

"I wanted to talk about Julie, Neil."

"Yeah, Marissa's death has been really tough on her. It seems as though all this charity work of her is working as a mask to hide her grief. Being somewhat experienced in the medical field, I know this isn't a good way to go about the whole thing."

"I was more referring to Julie's question regarding Ryan last week. We both know that she knew Ryan had left Newport. So it struck me as suspicious when she asked Kirsten about him. And then that look, we both saw it, we both know what it means. She's……" Before Sandy could finish his sentence, Neil has finished it for him.

"She's up to something, I know. And I think I know why, and if you are as smart as I know you are, you've figured it out to. Let me just ask this Sandy, what did happen to Volchok after the accident?"

"No-one really knows to be honest Neil. He sort of just fell of the map so the speak, either that or someone knows where he is and is paying off the authorities to keep quiet."

"Julie."

"Yep, my thoughts exactly."

"Well if you are wondering whether I have any clue as to the whole thing, well it's sad to say that I don't. Julie has somewhat shunned me of recent weeks, and worse shunned Kaitlin. If Julie knows where he is, she certainly hasn't let anything slip."

"I thought you might say that. Well I guess I'm left with no option, I'm going to have to go find him."

"Volchok? You said it yourself Sandy, there's no way you can find him while Julie's paying everyone off."

"That's why I'm not going after him. I'm going to try and locate Ryan instead. I just hope to god I find him before he does something stupid."


	4. The Realisation

**A/N:** _Sorry about the long wait, I've been really busy lately as university as just started back up again. I started writing this chapter a few days ago, and I have chipped in bits and pieces here and there. If you are wondering why there are a few grammar mistakes, then hopefully this explains that. Anyway, I'll get the next chapter up quicker than this one, and enjoy_

**Disclaimer:** _Btw, I don't own The O.C, its rights, characters or previous ideas. These are my own. __._

Ryan walked for what seemed like ages along the pier, trying to find some sort of landmark or restaurant in which he could recognise his surroundings. Unfortunately, all he saw where the generic diners and ice-cream stands which were common to most of the beach side towns he had known. Then again, he only really knew Newport and The Valley, and one of those were a fictional town. As he walked along the pier, we had flooded with recollections of walking along a similar pier in Newport. The most memorable of those occasions was only a few days into staying with the Cohen's, when he punched Luke inside the diner, forcing the manager to call the cops.

"You know what I like about rich kids? Nothing."

Ryan couldn't help but smile after remembering that incident, considering it was probably the best one-liner he had come up with during his time in Newport. Even though at the time it probably wasn't the most innocuous initiation into Orange County society, he would do anything to go back to then. Seth, Summer, Marissa. The fab four as Seth coined on many an occasion. Heck, even Luke and Oliver. Ok, maybe not Oliver.

After walking for what seemed an eternity, Ryan conceded that he was well and truly lost and decided the least he could do was find something to eat. He had a large range of choices, as he had passed at least a dozen different restaurants walking along the pier. After consultation with his stomach (and liver), Ryan settled on a burger hut named 'The Grill of Roses". The name struck him as an odd name for a burger shack, but he assumed to it was just some local reference, similar to a 'Balboa Bar'. As he walked in, he noticed a bar perched in front of the restaurants kitchen. "Perfect", he thought to himself. "I'm really itching for a beer". He found it strange however when he noticed that the bar was completely, a sight he was unaccustomed to. He assumed that this was so because

No-one drinks as heavily as they do in Newport, and

It looked to be about 10am

This did not deter Ryan however, because he didn't know where he was, let alone care what anyone else thought of him.

He decided to occupy the stool closest to the bathroom as he was pretty sure we would be using it some stage soon. He looked around the diner; it seemed to be a pretty generic burger restaurant; the layout was quite similar to that of the Crab Shack which he had worked at a few years ago.

It was as if the bar tender knew exactly what he wanted, as he was served a beer almost immediately after sitting down. "Nice", he thought. "This sure beats the service in Newport. He downed half a dozen beers before deciding to grab something to eat; he couldn't remember the last time he had had a decent meal. Literally, he couldn't. He browsed the menu for something that most appealed to his tastes, but everything was pretty much the same, minus a few minor ingredients.

"Errr, I'll take the Bridgetown Burger thanks." Must be another local thing, Ryan thought to himself."

"One Bridgetown Burger coming right up, hun

"Oh, can I also have another beer, just finished my last one". Ryan shook the an empty bottle to emphasise his point.

"Sure thing hun"

Seth was staring at the clock. 5:27………5:28.

"Oh come on, I swear to god time is deliberately going slowly", Seth sighed.

"Well, time flies when your having fun", Kaitlin replied sarcastically.

"Let's just leave the sarcasm to me, shall we Cooper?"

"Let's face it Seth, you definitely aren't the coolest guy around. In fact you are probably are on the bottom of the popularity chain."

"Wow Kaitlin, you really are your mother's daughter."

"Let me guess, when I leave you are going to read comic books and talk to your plastic horse, Captain Oaks is his name yeah?

"Actually it's Captain Oats, but as a matter of fact Cooper, I will be calling Summer tonight."

"You two are still going out? Wow, you must be really well equipped for her to still be with her. I mean, if I was at Brown I'd definitely dump your sorry ass."

"That's assuming I'd even go out with you in the first place Cooper." Seth paused to look at the clock, and a large smile enveloped his face. "Oh would you look at the time, 5:30. My babysitting duties are hereby over. Well I would say it's nice to see you again Kaitlin, but, well, it wasn't. "

"Likewise Cohen."

"Now if you don't mind, I have to call my girlfriend." And with that, Seth headed upstairs, entered his room and slammed his door for dramatic effect.

"Thank god for that", Seth muttered to himself.

Seth surveyed the room for his telephone, which was going to be a tough task considering the state of his room. Ever since Marissa died and Ryan left, things started to become hectic. Between trying to keep his girlfriend and trying to find his best friend, cleaning his room was the last thing on his mind.

"Captain Oats, have you seen the phone?"

The plastic horse just sat there on the bedside dresser, doing what a plastic horse does best; nothing.

"Oh of course you wouldn't know, like you would have anyone to call. Think Seth think, when was the last time you needed to call someone." Seth stood in his messy room for a while, trying to figure out who he called but more importantly, why.

"Oh yeah, got it. I called Leon to ask if the new justice issue came in, which means I was probably reading the previous issue. Which means….."

Seth bolted out of his room, and headed towards the kitchen. Seth knew that if he didn't call Summer on time she would assume something is wrong, and an upsetting conversation would ensue.

Seth made his way down to the kitchen, and stopped as he approached the backyard door. And there it was; the pool house. Every time he approached the pool house he couldn't help but feel angry about Ryan's departure. But despite this, he had gotten into the habit of reading comics in the pool house. To Seth, as long as he used the pool house, then Ryan was still part of the family.

He entered the room, which was pretty much the same as Ryan had left it. Sandy's old punching bag hanging up in the corner of the room, clothes drawers still left open from where Ryan presumably frantically grabbed for his belongings. Seth didn't have the heart to touch anything; Seth was still holding onto the hope that Ryan would return soon.

He continued to survey the room and found the previous edition of Justice League, still spread open on the bed. And surely, placed directly next to the comic book, was the phone for Seth's room.

Knowing that Summer would be worrying about the lateness of Seth's call, Seth frantically grabbed his phone and dialled the number to Summer's dormitory.

B-R-O-W-N-5-7-5

"Hello, Seth? What took you so long?"

"Hey Summer, love you too. Umm, just sitting in the pool house, getting all nostalgic. You know how it is"

"So I take it you still haven't found Ryan."

"No, no I haven't. And to tell you the truth, I'm starting to think if I ever will. It's been three months, and I thought he would have at least called by now Summer."

"Ryan is just going through what we have all been through over the last few month's"

"Have you Summer, have you been through it?"

Summer paused, which Seth picked up on straight away. Summer knew deep down that she still hadn't processed what happened with her best friend, but she wasn't ready to do so yet.

"Because you know Summer", Seth continued, "You didn't go to her funeral either, you just took off on that 'Early Starters' program.

Summer, keen to move the topic of conversation away from herself, changed the subject back to Ryan. "You know Seth, many experts say that when you run away, you run away to somewhere that is familiar to you. Maybe there's something in that?"

"Nah Summer, believe me, Chino was the first place I looked for Ryan. I asked Theresa, I asked Eddie, heck I even tracked down his brother. Talk about an awkward conversation. But no, nothing there at all."

"Think Cohen, there's nowhere else he would be. You were best friends; surely he mentioned something in the time you knew him. Heck, you even ran away after he left, now if that's not friendship, then what is."

"That's it Summer, that's it."

"What is Seth? You better not run away again. We don't need a repeat of that thank you very much."

"No, no. I know where he is. We don't have much time, knowing Ryan he'll know I'll work it out eventually."

"Seth, Seth? Where is he?"

"Gotta run, love you."

"Se……"

And with that, Seth hung up on his girlfriend. He knew he'd pay the price for it later, but he had another important call he had to make.

"Yeah, hello? Sandy Cohen please. It's his son."

The only thing lacking in Seth's mind, was the fact that Ryan himself had no idea where he was. And he wasn't anywhere closer to finding out where he was either. The pier looked like any ordinary beachside community, and these pop culture references in the burger names?

The waitress came back with Ryan's burger and beer within 15 minutes, something Ryan wasn't used to after experiencing Newport dining first hand. "Here is your beer, and here is your Bridgetown Burger. Enjoy."

Ryan took the opportunity to quiz the waitress.

"Err, excuse me………." Ryan paused to examine the waitresses name badge. "……..Mia, this Bridgetown Burger. Does it have some local significance?

"Sorry hun can't help you. Only moved here a few weeks ago. Still getting used to the area. But I'm sure the Manager will know, if you'd like me to get him…."

"If you wouldn't mind Mia"

The waitress re-entered the kitchen she had came out of not long ago, and proceeded to shout out, looking for the manager.

"Luke, Luke? A customer wants to know why they call it the Bridgetown Burger."

"Hah, Luke." Ryan thought to himself as he was flooded with memories of an old 'acquaintance'.

After 5 minutes of the waitress screeching, which was starting to get on Ryan's nerves, a man who Ryan assumed was the manager made his way out of the kitchen and proceeded in the direction of the bar.

The man took five paces and stopped dead in front of where Ryan was now drinking some of his beer. Ryan, now having taken a sip out of the beer, saw the man and focused his attention of him.

Both men paused the split second their eyes made contact. This wasn't the first time they had met…….

"Chino?"


	5. The Past Revisited

_A/N: Sorry I haven't updated this story in a while, I've been really busy with uni of late and this was one of the last things on mind. Also, I assumed with only one review that alot of people didn't like this story. I hope thats not the case. _

_Now, the story may appear to be kinda slow, but its all a matter of laying the platform of the story, and trust me, the next chapter will be pretty vital to the story. Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

"You have got to be kidding me", Ryan thought to himself. Of all the places to run to, he chose Portland. And of all the people to run into, it had to be Luke.

"Chino, what the hell are you doing all the way out here? You and Seth run away again?" Clearly Luke had no idea.

"Yeah, something like that." Ryan looked away, trying to seem disinterested. The shorter the conversation, the better.

"Well come on Chino, let me buy you a drink or something, it's been ages dude." Before Ryan could stop him, Luke had already sat down on the stool beside him, and ushered over Mia.

"Hey Mia", Luke yelled, still seemingly unaware that his voice was that of a foghorn. "I'm going to take my break early today, got some catching up to do with an old friend".

"You don't have to tell me , you are the boss after all."

"Wow, really Luke? A boss?" interjected Ryan, quite impressed that Luke had managed not to piss someone off long enough to earn such a position.

"Haha yeah, I know what you are thinking Chino. Things have been busy for me lately, a new girlfriend, new job opportunity. Moving to Portland really was a wise decision, don't think I would've lasted in Newport, someone would've punched my lights out. Anyway, speaking of Newport, how is everything? Who are the Cohen's going? Seth? What about Marissa, haven't spoken to her in 2 years now.

Ryan paused at Luke's question. It was the exact reason why Ryan had tried to avoid talking to Luke. News may travel fast in Orange County, but it clearly didn't in Portland.

"Yeah the Cohen's are pretty much the same really, except Sandy has taken over the Newport following Caleb's death.

"Caleb Nichol is dead?"

Wow, Ryan thought. He really was behind.

"Haha yeah some 2 years ago now. Seth, is well Seth. Still hasn't climbed the social ladder, yet manages to not annoy Summer enough for them to break up.

"Haha, as expected. Marissa?"

Fuck, Ryan thought. He'd hoped that he could simply skip out the part about Marissa, but considering Luke and Marissa had a "past", he thought he had the right to know. After all, he loved her too.

"You may want to grab another beer Luke. A lot happened after you left"

* * *

Seth sat on his bed, impatiently tapping the mattress as he waited for his father to finally get to the phone. Seth knew he was rather busy with work lately, but this was big news.

"C'mon Sandy, pick up", Seth muttered. "Oh this is ridiculous, I could ride to his firm quicker than hi….". Just as Seth was about to finish his sentence, Sandy finally made it to the phone.

"Hey Seth, what is it? I'm pretty tied down with a case at the moment and I don't have a lot time."

"I just called Summer and she quoted some scientific thingo that said people often return to familiar territory and then she made reference to me running away two summers ago, which was a mistake, but anyway it got me thinking about Ryan running away and then….."

"Seth, seth. Slow down I can't make at any of what you are saying." To be fair on Sandy, Seth was speaking rather quickly as Seth does when he gets nervous and edgy.

"Ryan is in Portland"

"Wait what? As in Oregon Portland"

"Yeah, it makes complete sense. Ryan would know that Chino is too obvious of a place to run to, and he is certainly smart enough to go somewhere he at least recognises. Which leaves…."

"Portland. Got ya." Sandy now understood why Seth was so nervous. "Look, I'm gonna start arranging the flights, get someone to fill in for me for the weekend. The sooner we find Ryan, the better. He knows what he could be doing. Seth, I need you to call your mother, tell her everything."

"Dad, do you reckon we can find him?"

Sandy hesitated at this last question. There was no guarantee they would find Ryan in a large city, let alone him even being in Portland. But he knew that they at least had to try, for the sake of everyone.

"I hope so Seth, I hope so."

* * *

"So that's the whole story Luke. They had Marissa's funeral two months afterward and I left that morning. Haven't seen anyone and heard anything since."

Ryan could see the anger and grief build up on Luke's face. It was hard enough for Ryan to be at the accident, he couldn't imagine telling someone who had loved her for many years that she died.

"So this guy, Volchok, he…

"He got away, drove off, left us there. He knows where he is now, haven't really looked to be honest. If I start tracking him down, somehow the Cohens will find out, and I can't deal with all that right now."

"So your just gonna let him get away, after what he did to her. You happy just letting him live like nothing ever happened?"

Ryan got angry at the suggestion that he didn't care. In fact, it was because he cared so much that he hadn't been down that path.

"You think I haven't wanted to? I think about that night every waking second, I think about having to carry her to the hospital. I think about him, probably off in Mexico, getting off scot-free. What am I supposed to do huh? Go back to Newport, ask Sandy to help me track down Volchok so I beat his ass and get sent back to prison? It's not that simple."

Ryan had to double-take. Despite him being rather fired up, it was the longest and honest conversation he had had in weeks.

Luke, aware that he had hit a nerve, tried to calm Ryan down before he got thrown out.

"Look Chino, come over to mine after my shift, we'll have some food, play a little NHL on playstation and go from there. And you look like you need a shower"

An offer Ryan couldn't refuse. "Ok, Ryan replied hesitantly. Besides, I haven't beaten your ass at playstation in a while anyway."


End file.
